An Insider's Look at Mario Party 9

Steve Stratton, author of the Mario Party 9 Prima Official Game Guide takes an insider's look at the new features and gameplay.

I press the A button, and my mustachioed avatar jumps up to smack an overhead Dice Block. It’s a familiar feeling for me, and a good one, at that – for I know that no matter which number Mario rolls, we’re in for some good times together. That’s why they call it Mario Party!

The Dice Block comes up four, and so we motor ahead four spaces in our stylin’ ride. Then Mario jumps for joy – we’ve landed on one of Toad Road’s few Lucky Spaces! My rotund plumber friend quickly bounds into a colorful roadside abode, which can only be a Toad House. After a quick game of cards with a most hospitable Toad, I find myself a few precious Mini Stars richer. Thanks, little guy!

Mario Party 9 is the ultimate iteration of this beloved party game franchise. It oozes with color, charm and polish. It’s seven memorable game boards are a blast to explore with family and friends, and each board brims with all manner of special spaces and unique events that’ll have you in stitches as you flail away with your Wii Remote, hoping to score more of those little glittering Mini Stars than your peers.

Of course, all those game boards really just serve as a means of whisking you and your friends into Mario Party 9’s plethora of imaginative minigames. Over 70 of these bite-sized escapades await you, each one ranging anywhere from ten seconds to over a minute of blissfully random challenge. You might find yourself bouncing above the clouds and collecting balloons during one minigame, or zapping your rivals with a series of devious traps from the comfort of your control room in another. Each minigame is its own unique event, and they’re all a thrill to experience.

You don’t need to romp around those lengthy game boards to enjoy Mario Party 9’s many minigames, mind you. An array of inventive Minigame Modes let you cut to the chase and envelop yourself in pure gaming goodness whenever you like. My personal favorite is Garden Battle mode, in which the players must outperform their peers in minigames so they can fill their respective plods of soil with Plant Blocks faster than their rivals – the better you fare in the minigames, the faster your garden will grow! There are many other Minigame Modes, and some are more involved than others. If you just want to play the games without any fuss, Free Play mode lets you browse all the minigames and jump straight into any one you like.

Mario Party 9 offers lots of content right out of the box, but even more sweet stuff can be unlocked by spending Party Points to purchase goodies at the Museum. You earn Party Points for practically everything you accomplish in Mario Party 9, so it’s easy to pile them up. You’ll be unlocking all sorts of neat little extras in no time, including a hidden game board and a special Minigame Mode!

If you’ve been itching for another reason to gather your family and friends around your Wii, Mario Party 9 will give you a good ol’ scratch. And Prima’s Official Game Guide provides all the tips and info you need to party hard and unlock all those extras with minimum fuss. Our colorful guide is easy to use for players of all ages, filled with colorful visuals like labeled maps of every game board, and plenty of large, vibrant screenshots that instantly depict the in-game action.